ECharmony
by PandaB
Summary: No one at Hogwarts knows how their parents met, just that they all got together in their 7th years. The Sorting hat isn’t the only magical hat out there. Voldie died in 6th year, Dumbledore is still alive.
1. Back to School

**Summary**: No one at Hogwarts knows how their parents met, just that they all got together in their 7th years. The Sorting hat isn't the only magical hat out there. Voldie died in 6th year, Dumbledore is still alive.

**Disclaimer: I **agree not to own harry potter, can I have Draco?

**Prologue:**

_Tap-tap-tap_

Harry awoke with a start, looking around, and saw Pig tapping repeatedly at the window. Groaning, he got out of his warm bet and trod over to the window, pulled it open, and fed Pig some of the owl treats he had on his nightstand.

Pig hopped around for a few minutes on Harrys bed and then stuck his leg out for Harry to take the letter that was tied there.

_Hey mate!_

_Well, things have kind of died down from last June when you defeated You-Kno-er Voldemort, and so I think it would be cool if you come stay with us now, we've only got a couple more days of summer before we've gotta get back to Hogwarts for our _final year, _but everyone misses you, and Hermione's here, so it would be a nice reunion. Also, we could get our school supplies together, Fred and George opened a new part of their store, it's just school supplies, like color-changing, self-inking sugar quills, its bloody brilliant. Anyway's my mum's got your birthday all figured out, and she's really excited this year because it's your last one before you're an adult. Since I'm not allowed to drive the car (my dad got a "bmw" thing, its really ordinary looking in my opinion, looks like a lot of cars I see on the street, but I still can't drive it because they're still hooked on what happened 2__nd__ year), there's an old broken watch in the envelope, it's a portkey, so don't touch it until you're ready to go. Ehm, well, I guess you could come whenever, Charlie's here and he's been in Western America for a while, so he's on a different time zone, so there's always someone awake, you know your way up to my room, so ehm…..get packing, we have to get you here before the Summers gone!_

_--Ron_

Harry peeked in to the envelope, there was indeed a broken watch with a shattered face. He made a mental note to be careful when he grabbed it later. He started to gather his things from his closet. Over the summer, he had gotten a new wardrobe with clothes that actually fit him, he had a bunch of jeans and tee-shirts, but he had gone to see a personal shopper in Diagon Alley that had set him up with a bunch of clothes that actually fit him, finally! They were sorted into levels of formality and then shrunk and put into his trunk.

The last thing he collected were his possessions from the floorboard under his bed, his invisibility cloak, and his photo album of his parents.

Harry looked around knowing that this was going to be the last time he would ever see Number 4 Privet Drive again, grabbed the watch and Hedwigs cage and vanished from sight.

Minutes later Petunia walked in for vacuuming and noticing he was gone, and knowing she would never see him again, sighed with regret that she hadn't treated her sister's son a little bit better.

--+--

Harry landed with a "_Oomph_" in the middle of the living room at the Burrow on top of a strategically placed pile of pillows, all the things in the room having been courteously moved to the walls. Ron and Charlie Weasley looked up form their late-night came of wizard's chess.

"Hey Mate!"

"Hi…er thanks for the soft landing."

"No problem, it was Hermione's idea; you know she thinks things through", Ron chuckled.

"Ok, I'll thank her in the morning…do you think I could go to bed, I'm kind of tired," Harry admitted.

"Yea sure, you know where you're stayin."

"Night, night Charlie"

"Night"

"Good Night"

Harry climbed up the steep crooked stairs to Ron's room, he passed by Ginny's room, he saw the light on under the door.

He peaked his head in and saw Ginny passed out on the bed, a book shielding her eyes from the light, laughing on the inside, we walked to her bedside table to turn out the light, placed the book on the table, and kissed his baby sister on the forehead before leaving and going the rest of the way up to Ron's room to crash on the second bed.

--+--

The light cutting in from the east window in Ron's room cast itself across Harry's eyes effectively waking him up. Focusing in on the surroundings, he heard Ron's monstrous snoring, and saw the maroon walls of the bedroom. Reaching for his wand he checked the time on his watch.

The small angular numbers of 8:14 flashed back at him and he laid his head down for a few more minutes.

Slowly nodding off again, he was jostled awake when someone climed into the bed with him.

"Hey Harry! How was your summer?" His visitor whispered.

"Oh, Hi Ginny, it was fine, the Dursleys didn't bother me that much, how was yours?"

"Fine, Dean broke up with me, but then Seamus asked me out!"

"That's great Ginny! I told you that Seamus liked you!"

Ginny sighed shifting a little in the bed to lie on her back.

"You know, now I can focus all my matchmaking skills on you. I told you late year that I was going to help you find the perfect guy!" she slyly mentioned while toying with a loose thread on the

Yes, Harry was gay, he came out after defeating Voldemort, but only to the Gryffindor house, he wouldn't bare the publicity from the press. No, keeping it within his family was a better idea. He didn't want the snakes knowing, and if they other houses knew, they were sure to catch on to something.

"GINNY!" Harry yelled, then cringed and laid still waiting for Ron to wake up, but when he just snorted and rolled over, he continued his snoring at a lower decibel. "I told you, I don't need you to set me up with anyone, the right person will show themselves soon."

Ginny pouted, "But as your best friend, ESPECIALLY after you set me up with Seamus, thanks by the way, I know you helped him a long. It's MY job, to find someone utterly PERFECT for you!"

"Ginny…"

"Fine, fine" Ginny said, but in her head continued, "but that doesn't mean that I won't interfere later."

--+--

Breakfast at the Weasley's was a jovial event, it was the annual "Save-Harry-from-Malnutrition-because-of-the-stupid-Dursleys" Breakfast and it really did live up to the name. There were oranges, sausages, bacon links, toast, porridge, eggs, jam, and hash browns. Every year it was a little different, but it always looked like a mini Hogwarts feast. Harrys mouth was watering all the way up in the bathroom when he was still brushing his teeth. Climbing down the stairs, he saw the Hermione was sitting and holding Ron's hand under the table. Smiling to himself at the cute PDA, he went over to the seat Ginny had saved for him and started loading up his plate with food.

"Hi Harry! Ron told me you came in late last night, was there enough of the soft landing? I was debating putting out a few more pillows…"

"Nah, it was fine, and really helpful, I didn't break my glasses this time! Thanks by the way!"

"No Problem, Just remember that because of the lack of non-possesed scars on you head, you should buy me something nice for my birthday," Hermione joked.

"Okay."

"Harry, I was joking!"

"Yea, I know, but I can't count the number of times you've saved my ass, you deserve something brilliant!"

"Well..thanks!"

"No problem."

Mrs. Weasley bustled in yelling for them to hurry up, they needed to get to Diagon Alley for their back to school shopping.

After walking around for a while and purchasing all their books and supplies Ginny finally convinced Ron and Hermione to give her and Harry some time alone. Together they wandered over to the ice cream shop and then with slowly melting frozen yogurt, meandered around the rest of the more entertainment-centered half of the streets.

By the time it reached three o'clock, their designated meet up time, Ginny and Harry were both laden with bags of supplies they claimed they needed to keep entertained for the year. Hermione and Ron joined the group late both with rumpled clothing and sporting swollen lips.

Laughing at their obvious but unintentional display of affection, all of them flooed back to the Burrow one by one.

--+--

The days passed quickly and before they knew it, everyone was on the platform of 9¾ looking for storage and seats. Everything had gone smoothly and now Harry was chatting animatedly with Neville and Luna. The hours passed by and the trolley woman went up and down the aisles. Sooner rather than later they were getting off the train and loading in groups of 6 into the carriages, into Hogwarts and skipping steps up to the ever familiar Great Hall for the Opening Feast.

The Sorting and Dumbledore's speech was finished with four chosen words, thimble, scallywag, Kleenex, and scissors (which was proudly pronounced wrong) and the food promptly appeared. Thanks to the training for eating great amounts at the Weasley's he was able to make rather noticeable dents in both entrée dishes and dessert plates.

Chatter reverberated from the great stone walls and some of the vibrations were absorbed into the ceiling, people laughing, and people telling exaggerated summer stories were going all around Harry. This was familiar, it was home.

At last, to the relief of everyone's bloated stomachs, but not to their taste buds, the food disappeared, and it came time for every 7th year to remember all of their past Opening Feasts. In remorse for it would be their last ones as students, and in excitement because every year after Dumbledore dismissed the Prefects to lead everyone to their dormitories; he always said the exact same thing:

"Would the 7th years stay for a minute, there's something I need to tell you all."


	2. Into the Doorway

**A/N** – I opened my inbox today looking for an email from one of my friends, and I have 11 emails all from fanfiction, yeah 1 of them was just letting me know that I posted, but the other were story alerts, author alerts, and reviews!! You have no idea how much that makes me feel loved!

*virtual cookies for all!*

I have a new appreciation for the writers that get over 20 pages in one chapter.

**Formalities:** (like summary or disclaim) See Chapter One

Anyways, on with the Story – **Chapter 1**

The school filed out of the stone archway, a few 1st years lagging behind trying to glimpse the action. Years of giving this speech had Dumbledore prepared and patient enough to wait for them to leave, despite the eager faces of the crowd before him. The door finally swung shut after the last curious student ducked out.

"Boys and Girls," Dumbledore called, bringing the attention to a focus. The buzzing stopped abruptly, and the hum of utter silence hung in the air.

"There is something that will be different about this year." He spoke at a low tone enjoying the enraptured and enthralled faces of the audience, and the leaning posture of the students, hanging on his every word, "you see the door on the right of this hall?"

Everyone turned to look, the door was made of stone, and each house saw their own crest embellished in the center. No one had ever noticed it before, and it seemed it was invisible until pointed out. Now it was on the forefront of everyone's mind, some still looking back at it as Dumbledore continued.

"Tonight you will all be escorted back down here, one house at a time, you will then make a single filed line behind the door and do go through it when the timer counts down to zero. Upon going through the door, you will discover certain items of information, some of which you may not like. Unfortunately, that is all that I will permit myself to say to you. Would the Hufflepuffs stay here please? As tradition goes, you go first. Goodnight all.

The students watched as Dumbledore strolled out of the Great Hall, up the stairs until no one could see him anymore. Then all eyes snapped to the Hufflepuffs to see what they would do.

--+--

Harry and his friends were in a circle on the floor of their common room. It had been a few hours since the strange encounter with Dumbledore, and the Gryffindors had yet to go down. They would have taken naps, for it was no longer that day, or the day before, but now it was early morning, but the doors to their rooms were locked and not even Hermione could persuade them open.

Hermione was on the floor reading a book she had found, and Ron was on the floor with her, his head on a pillow absentmindedly playing with a loose thread. Harry, who kept the Marauder's Map in his pocket for situations like these, was studying the Great Hall and watching as students filed into what looked like a wall one by one and then after a few minutes in "the wall" appeared in a dead ended passageway that led to the hall outside their common room. This confused Harry because apparently the map shows everything, so either the castle was hiding it, or someone hid it on the map.

Harry watched as the last Ravenclaw, Luna in fact, walked into the wall, and large group of Slytherins come into the entrance, and Snape standing in the corner appearing to watch.

He was disappointed that the Gryffindors would be last, but knowing just watching all the Slytherins for another couple hours would be mind-numbing, so he just fell asleep on the couch.

--+--

When he woke up all he knew was someone was jostling him on the shoulder with a very tight grip.

"Oi!"

"Sorry Mr. Potter, but I'm afraid I must interrupt your nap," Harry looked up and saw the face of one Minerva McGonagall. "You should go join your friends in the Great Hall as soon as you collect yourself."

Harry nodded, rubbed his eyes and got up, exiting the common room and headed down.

He didn't see any trouble on the way down the stairs, and he made it just in time to be at the end of the line. Hermione and Ron were close to the door and were practically sleepwalking, so they didn't see him enter. Neville and Seamus were the last ones before him, so he wasn't all alone.

They chatted, but the line moved swiftly and soon, they were the only ones in the Hall. Seamus gathered up his courage and walked through the room, and a slightly awkward silence enveloped Neville and him. The silence didn't last long, but it was never resolved because the 5 minute timer had gone off and Neville had to say goodbye and enter the door.

Harry was left in the room by himself, it was kind of creepy, and he didn't like the feeling of being alone.

4 minutes left…

Harry was growing restless, and started twiddling his fingers to pass time.

3 minutes left…

Now that Harry was given a chance without distractions, it was becoming increasingly hard to keep his eyes open. The large stopwatch was timing down in a rhythmic pattern giving Harry a dull lullaby that made it hard for him to resist sleep.

2 minutes left…

Harry checked his watch and sat down on the bench beside him, it didn't seem to have taken this long with the others, and he was getting chilly and very tired. His head lulling back and forward as he went from semi-conscious to a more alert version of his semi-conscious.

1 minute left…

Harry got to his feet and waited for the timer to max out. The large red numbers reminded him of an alarm clock and it's angular numerals. It hypnotized him into a state where he was thinking, but had no idea about what.

"BEEP BEEP"

The rude noise shook him from his calm and he hurried to slam down the button and shut off the awful sound.

Glancing at the door in front of him, he took a deep breath before going through it thinking it would be over again in just five minutes, then he could go to bed.

What he saw in the passageway surprised him. Dumbledore stood in the middle of what looked like the third level of his office. He had never been up here before, but he had seen Dumbledore pacing up here many times before when studying the map or before his meetings with him.

"I bet this wasn't what you were expecting, but I'm afraid it is all I have", Dumbledore smiled, "Now, I'm sure you feel very confused about what this meeting is about, and I think I shall have to start from the beginning.

Harry nodded, he had guessed exactly as Harry had been feeling.

"When we enroll students, it is after one year has passed for the oldest child in that grade. And then they are enrolled in pairs. You see Harry, this year, you will meet your soul mate. It sounds very cliché I'm certain, especially for someone like you who has grown up with such disbelieving guardians."

At this Harry rolled his eyes.

"When you were sorted, you put on a hat, as I'm sure you remember, and what we will do tonight is very similar. It already knows who you are paired with, and has already seen you other half, but it must give you the information you will need for the year to come."

Harry eyed the hat in Dumbledore's hand, and took it gingerly. He placed in on his head and started listening to the gentle voice.

"Ah! I was wondering when you would come, I have already spoken with your partner, and they were very alarmed with the news I was able to give them. They might be a little hesitant to involve themselves in a relationship with you, but do not worry, they will come to their senses, as I have perceived. Alas, you will be the dominant figure in your relationship, and I cannot tell you who your partner is. That is the honor of being the submissive figure. They must get over their fear of non-acceptance and come to you with what they know. This year will be exciting, but different than what you know, I beg you to choose your actions with feelings in mind."

The last sentence of the hat left him wondering what it meant. As far as he knew he had been pleasant with most everyone, and only saved a few biting remarks for Malfoy when provoked.

Lifting the hat from his head, he looked at Dumbledore for any further instruction, and he was rewarded.

"To your left is another door, it will lead you to that passage way that I'm sure you know of by now, Mr. Weasley is waiting up for you, and has something to share that he is very excited about, I suggest you go and grant him with a listening ear."

Harry nodded and headed for the door. Turning the handle and stepping into the lit passageway, Dumbledore called him again.

"Depending on your parent's blood and your place in your bond, you might develop…changes…during the night, and it may not be completely pain-free. This will also be known as your inheritance, and if Ms. Granger can't figure out what you are, please come talk to me after you sleep off the night. The Seventh Years have no classes tomorrow due to this late night."

Harry nodded, and left through the door, this time with a few butterflies playing in his stomach.

The passageway let off at a set of 4 doors each with a lion, snake, badger, or eagle on it. He walked through the obviously Gryffindor portrait and it left him at the right of the Fat Lady's portrait.

He gave the Fat lady the password, Clementine, and disappeared up the stairs to go to bed.

The beds used to be all in one room, but now when he opened the door, it just led to a mini common room with more doors. From the DA lessons he knew the figures of his dorm-mate's patronuses and could figure out that their animal was carved on a door, and the Stag was in between Seamus's monkey, and Ron's terrier.

Opening the door with the stag led him into a circular room with a king sized bed, a full length mirror, an attached bathroom. It was weird, not being with everyone, but it was the best room he'd ever been able to call his own and the mattress looked really welcoming. He never imagined the Seventh year's rooms would be so nice and remember that he never really saw anyone in the common room that was in seventh year in the past, only the ones passing through.

Harry decided that Ron could wait for the morning to talk to him and decided to go straight to bed.

He dragged himself over to the giant wardrobe and dug around to find his pajamas. He found a pair of black silk with little golden balls that had reminded him of snitches and decided that he would use those.

He held his pajamas over his shoulder and grabbed his tooth brush, then walked into his bathroom.

The bathroom looked a lot like the prefects one where he listened to the golden egg in his fourth year, just on a smaller scale. A bath was already drawn, showing just as much attentiveness to his needs as Hogwarts had shown in the past.

The bath was warm and he was able to indulge his guilty pleasure, bubbles. The tub had a special faucet with bubble soap and he filled a bunch of the air with flying bubbles while exploring the extraordinary tub.

Harry got out and rubbed himself dry after most of the bubbles popped, then got dressed and brushed his teeth, walking back out into his room and saw that a fireplace was now blazing with warmth and he climbed under the soft duvet and fell promptly asleep.

That…morning his dreams were haunted with a beautiful smile and eyes that gleamed like molten silver with blue specks like topaz. When he woke up three hours later that was all that he could remember, so he couldn't have known if he dreamed of the full face of his future soul mate or not even if the excruciating pain in his head and torso had been absent.


	3. A Balancer

**=A/N** : Wow, I really feel loved thank you, I try my best to reply to all reviews, but sometimes it's difficult…because I really don't know what to say, but on that note, thanks for the reviews, they really made my day! I really know that sounds cliché

**Formalities**: (disclaimation …that's not a word, and stuffz) See Chapter 1

**On with Chapter 3…**

Harry groaned as another pain wave washed through his body like a wave. The pain was intense and paralyzing. The need to quiver like a leaf was killing him, but instead of relieving the pain, he knew it would only get worse.

Harry closed his eyes on the agony and tried to grab for his wand. Several years with the Dursley's had given him the right incentive to learn how to use a pain reliever spell. His hand reached out, and the very tips of his fingers brushed lightly against the handle before he wretched them back to his chest, trying to push away the horrible restricting feeling in his lungs.

He could feel the pressure leaving his chest and he started to pass out from the aftershock and weariness he felt. His eyes fluttered and he could see a concerned face peering at him from behind his door, a wand in their hand apparently having cast the numbing spell. Harry's eyes slid shut and he lost consciousness.

--+--

Harry woke up to the sound of splashing water. The pain in his head felt like a shadow on his mind, like a telephone ringing that he couldn't pick up. He rolled his head to look towards the sound, his entire body ached and he didn't want to move too much.

Someone walked out of the bathroom, the image was blurry because of the absence of his glasses, and he heard them set something down. The figure was reaching towards his face, the recognizable circle figure of his glasses in their hand.

"Hey Harry", Neville's voice intruded on his ears, "You're lucky my cactus is grown now, it can sense magical beings in pain from 50 feet away! When it was smaller it could only sense a few feet. It woke me up last night so when I found you…well, you were screaming again, but you were…eh….well you looked like you do now. Well, I figured it was you're inheritance, so I stayed here make sure nothing…bad happened…"

"Thanks Neville, I owe you one…a lot of ones actually, what spell did you use?"

"Oh…I'm actually a year older than you…I should be graduated already, got my inheritance last year, this was the spell my grandmother used on me. It's the standard pain relieving spell at Hospitals "alleviare dolore"."

"Wow, cool, I'll have to learn that…wait, did you say I look different?"

"Yea…you got a tattoo, everyone this year has one, the one around your wrist, then you're eyes also changed a little, they've got a bit of silver now instead of just green, it's actually quite cool looking. Mine changed to blue and amber, it looks a bit funny, so I just wear contacts to keep them normal looking. The other color is supposed to help you identify your "soul mate", but I haven't found mine yet…"

Neville pulled a face, "I actually don't know if I want to know, I'm perfectly fine on my own, and besides, with my luck, ill accidentally kill them with an "Expeliarmus"."

"No you won't Neville, you aren't that clumsy, and you're getting a lot better with your wand work"

Neville smiled gratefully at him and after a few more minutes of conversing, he decided that Harry should be left alone.

"Uhm, well I'm sure that you need to do stuff before everyone comes down to breakfast…Here" Neville dropped a couple books and blank eye contacts on Harry's nightstand. "The contacts change to your normal color when you put them on, the first book is on concealing the tattoos, and if you find anything else that isn't normal, like another tattoo or retractable claws…stuff like that, this book will tell you what you might have turned into, many wizards have magical blood, and I'm guessing that you have a high chance of that…so I'll uh…. Leave you to it! Bye!"

Neville left and Harry walked over to the door to lock it. Neville's words made him curious, other Tattoos? Retractable Claws?

Walking over to a wall length mirror he pulled his shirt over his head and shed his pants on the floor.

Looking in the mirror he could see what Neville had meant. There was now a rose tattoo around his wrist, it hadn't budded yet, and it was simple and delicate. There was a curled Dragon on his opposite shoulder blade, it was black but when touched it would tingle pleasantly and would change color like a mood ring. He examined his eyes, the lashes were fuller and their color remained green except for a ring of silver before the white. Harry though that it looked pretty nice, like Neville had, but he supposed that to avoid questions, he should just put in the contacts.

It was getting late in the morning, and breakfast was probably going to end soon, so he grabbed a shirt and some pants, and exited his room.

He met up with Ron in the Common Room, and saw that he had a dragonfly on his wrist. Asking him about it, Harry found out that Ron was, against all odds, a dominant figure also, and had no idea who his partner was.

--+--

The Great Hall was alive with chatter, but it was split down the middle with boys and girls avoiding each other. Upon further inspection, many of the couples that used to be together were either not present, being comforted by friends, or sitting together on amicable terms. But it looked like most of them were no longer together, with the exception of a few couples that had been together since they were old enough to date.

Hermione, who has always been an early riser, ran up to them and looked at Ron expectantly.

Ron looked back at her with the same expression.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"You can tell me! We're already dating, I would've thought you would tell me right away!"

"Oh. But I don't know if it's you."

Disappointment shone in Hermione's eyes and she understood. Two alphas couldn't belong in the same relationship, meaning she and Ron weren't supposed to be together.

Both would need a few weeks before they would be able to be normal with each other, but Harry believed that they would be able to work through their break up.

Hermione politely excused herself and moved down the table to sit by Ginny, Ron was silent and pushed at the few pieces of egg on his plate.

Harry sighed, he had wanted to ask Hermione to tell him about his new appearance, but he supposed he would have to wait until Ron was busy.

--+--

There were no classes because of the late night before and so he was in the library reading his book about his new features. He had already finished his book to conceal them, and now he wanted to know what they were. His tattoo had helped him narrow it down from the four hundred possibilities, to just one. The Balancer, or more commonly known as an Elemental, is known to sport a dragon, faerie, mermaid, or hippogriff on their shoulder.

The dragon represents the fire power, faerie, the earth, mermaid takes the water, and the Hippogriff is granted the power of the air. He could also produce, or call upon fire and could pass through it without harm. He was supposed to have a mate, not just someone perfect, and this submissive would have the element that contributes to his.

His mate should be possessed by Air. He will be his opposite and will have met him before, but they will not have been the best of friends.

Harry will also have a familiar, an animal sidekick so to say, and this will assist him in the finding of his mate. These familiars were like wands, they were found in pet shops, but you couldn't buy any one, they had to choose you.

Unlike the rest of Hogwarts, 7th years could go to Hogsmead every Friday. Harry decided, if he wanted to find his other half, he had best get to a shop soon.


	4. A Classroom

A/N: Holy Shit, Im sooooo sorry! I had no idea I wouldn't be able to write for the past three weeks, I was forced into doing Tech for a middle school. And I got home at seven…and I feel really badddd. Btw, I swear this is a Draco/Harry fic…so…if you don't like It than im really confused about why are you reading chapter 4 already, and I'm trying my hand at being tricky….lemme know if it works?

**Chapter 4: **

Harry woke up on Friday morning with a buzz in the back of him mind. He had stayed up late trying to figure out how to put out the fire in the common room. He was going to talk to Hermione later again today to see if she had theories.

His classes so far were pretty easy. He had a class with Dumbledore now, he only had that on Fridays though, so he was interested to see how it would play out. He dressed in the uniform black slacks, white dress shirt, and Hogwarts robes his red and gold tie lying loosely around his neck. He grabbed his satchel filled it with his books, and a quill or two and headed out the door. He traveled down the spiral staircase to meet up with Ron and Hermione for breakfast.

--+--

It was a weird thing, so see Luna Lovegood nervous. The few friends she had in Ravenclaw house were bewildered. She was wringing her hands, straitening her skirt, and even once in a while biting on her nails. These were all very normal things for a person to do, but for a Lovegood, it was preposterous.

She kept glancing at the Great hall doors whenever someone would step in. She reached up and tugged on her hair before looking back down at her untouched muffin. Rachel put her hand over Luna's shaking one.

"Are you all right? Are you sick?" She question nervously.

Luna offered one of her trademark dreamy smiles, and replied, "I'm fine".

Rachel looked at the other girls in defeat, because they knew that they wouldn't be able to force anything out of Luna, not if she didn't want them to.

Finally, the doors opened and the person that Luna had needed to see entered the great hall. Her large silvery grey eyes focused on the Golden Trio, and on one of them in particular. His hair was messed up again, as usual, and he was eating with the appetite of an army…also as usual. She had never seen him in this way before, just after the hat had told her. It was eye-opening, she found herself excited and happy that he was destined to be with her.

The hat had also told her, that her case was peculiar, as it would always be, and that even though she would know her partner's name, she would be on equal ground with him, there would be no dominant or submissive, the roles would go off and on. She should have known, he wasn't the type to want to take complete control, it just wasn't in his nature.

Luna gathered her courage, and headed toward their end of the hall, sat down next to her destined lover.

"Hello Harry"

He turned his gaze away from his food and found himself looking at Luna. Finding her sitting at the Gryffindor table wasn't uncommon, and it had happened at least once a week since 5th year.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Luna smiled and just told him that she felt like sitting with them today. Ron turned his gaze from the other side of Luna to say hi, and elbow her in the way Ron always does, but this time a slight blush burned on her cheeks. It went unnoticed, and she picked a cinnamon roll from the plate to munch on, all the time sneaking peeks at the boy next to her.

Across the room someone misinterpreting her actions and was cutting up his sausage with unnecessary force, the confusion and vulnerability of worry hidden behind their smooth composure, the kind you would find in the face of someone playing a lousy hand of poker, but kept it hidden behind the famous "all in" bet. Only someone who looked hard enough at his would be able to see it, the years of training this facade having headed off many of the curious stares of the less-caring people around him.

--+--

Classes went by quickly, and after a quick look at his schedule, Harry noted that he would have the new class with Dumbledore last, in the Great hall. It was something to look forward to. Lunch came and went. Luna was still hanging out with them when she could.

Professor McGonagall let out a sigh after realizing that she wouldn't be able to squeeze the rest of her two hour lecture into the next thirty seconds, and let them go. Harry gathered his things and exited out the back door of the classroom. It was quicker than to try and force his way through the crowd of students. He only knew that there was a back door because of the Map. Ron followed him, and Hermione made a move to also, before having seen Ron. Their relationship was still a little strained, so she decided to just wait for the crowd to disperse into the hallway.

The path from the back of the room was a little longer, and it took them more time to get to the Great Hall than it should have. There was a note on the door telling them there was going to be a classroom change. It was now going to be held in the Room of Requirement, they would need to look for "The classroom."

Harry looked at Ron, and he shrugged in response. They turned and headed up the large staircase, the castle must have held pity for them, being already a little late, and didn't change paths until after they had been used. They walked past the stretch of wall three times, and the door appeared. They pulled it open, a feat that took a strange amount of effort, and examined their classroom.

To be quite honest, it looked a lot more like the Three Broomsticks than a classroom. It was furnished with many comfy looking armchairs, and some small round tables, the kind you would see in a muggle "Starbucks".

Harry was, quite frankly, surprised that Dumbledore was late, as Headmaster, Harry would think he was the most time conscious as McGonagall, at least. Most of the seats were taken already (there were a few extras) so it took a few minutes to locate a pair of empty chairs next to each other in the vast expanse of the large classroom.

They settled down, and started talking, they hadn't been informed of this class until the opening feast, so if they needed supplies for the course, that would be too bad. It was weird to have nothing to unpack, so many of the students were confused about what to do, nothing to unpack, no punctual, on time, teacher to tell them what to do.

Dumbledore finally entered the classroom five minutes later, he was smiling, and the twinkle in his clear blue eyes was so bright, it metaphorically could have broken his half moon spectacles.

_Ohhhhh, the anticipation kills_


End file.
